


New Horizons

by sierraadeux



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, M/M, Meet-Cute, Neighbors, but make it online
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23236375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sierraadeux/pseuds/sierraadeux
Summary: It's nice to have a friend to play Animal Crossing with, even if he's a stranger Dan met online.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 34
Kudos: 143





	New Horizons

He had almost caved last night, staring at the eShop with a thumb hovering over purchase, but that would have been a new level of frivolous and sad Dan wasn’t quite yet ready to come to terms with. So he waited. He paced his flat a bit, actually did the washing up before the dirty dishes sat in the sink for a week for once, he tidied his room, and groaned at his phone when the time displayed only an hour past midnight. 

Dan had flopped down on his bed face first with an “ _oof”,_ praying sleep would come without the temptation to scroll endlessly on his phone. He knew if he had seen _one_ tweet about Animal Crossing he would be shelling out another sixty pounds on the digital download. There were a few curses muttered under his breath as he tossed and turned - _why did he have to be so insistent on owning games physically?_ \- but eventually he found sleep. 

When the buzzer rings through Dan’s flat, he’s fully dressed and ready for the day. Which is a feat for eight in the morning, but he’s been up earlier than the sun. 

Wake up. Check the tracking on his package. Go back to sleep. Wake up ten minutes later to check the tracking on his package. Think about going back to sleep but rendering it useless. Roll out of bed and bump into every piece of furniture in his flat in the darkness. Make coffee and check the tracking on his package while it brews. Think about how close his package is while taking a shower. Accidentally shampoo twice. Check the tracking on his package while sitting on the toilet lid in a towel. Curse the delivery driver for going _so_ slow, even though it’s only been twenty minutes since he’s woken up and the tracking actually looks like it’ll be delivered before the estimated delivery window. Put on some real clothes. Brush his teeth while tracking the package. Sit on the couch absolutely vibrating while waiting for the package since there’s literally nothing else to do to pass the time. 

Dan bolts out of his flat after a hasty “ _be right down”_ is all but shouted into the intercom. He’s in his socks and his front door is left ajar, but he could not care less. Enough so that he jogs past the lift and takes the stairs instead - something he never does if he can’t help it, as he lives one below the top floor of a very tall apartment building. 

But desperate, excited times call for desperate measures. He narrowly stops himself from slipping more than a few times and he makes it down to the lobby in record time, huffing and puffing as the unamused delivery person blinks at him from the other side of the glass door. 

“Phil Lester or Daniel Howell?” they say once Dan opens the door, chest still heaving. 

“Dan,” he makes grabby hands for one of the two packages under the delivery driver’s arm before remembering basic human manners. 

“Sign here.” He’s passed the little device and scribbles his name, handing it back for one of the padded envelopes in return. The lift dings from behind them and Dan says a silent prayer to whoever’s listening from above. 

“Thank you!” Dan remembers to call and gets a mumble in response as he turns on his heel. He makes a beeline for the open lift with so much haste to stop the door before it closes and someone else calls it back up, that he barely registers, and almost slams into, the person exiting it. 

_Of course it’s hot upstairs neighbor_ , because who else would it be as Dan looks like an absolute madman making a run for the lift? There’s no time to ogle though, Dan has places to be, a game to play, so he simply smiles and nods as hot upstairs neighbor chuckles a good morning while sidestepping Dan’s barreling pace. 

_Okay_ , maybe he ogles a bit, taking in the disheveled state of the other man’s quiff, as well as the glasses that sit crooked on his nose and the faint stubble on his jaw. 

Dan only sees hot upstairs neighbor in passing. Small glimpses passing each other at the door or in the lift. But even so, he decides he’s somehow even more attractive in this sleepy, messy morning state than the more put together, clean shaven, perfectly styled quiff version he’s used to. 

But Dan is on a mission, he saves the image of hot neighbor to store in his brain for safe keeping and slides into the lift just before the doors are about to close. One last glimpse of an ass that should _not_ look so good in bright blue Cookie Monster pajama bottoms, before the doors shut and he’s jabbing his finger on his floor’s button a few dozen times in hopes that’ll make the lift go faster. 

He rips open into his package as he goes up, _maybe_ he tears up a bit at the art on the case even though he’s seen it hundreds of times - _that’s no one’s business but his._ And once the lift dings he’s back in his flat in record time, flopping back into his favorite corner of his sofa where his Switch is waiting for him on the coffee table. 

_Yes,_ Dan _did_ buy tropical island scented candles in preparation for the release of this game. And _yes,_ he is lighting a concoction of sea breeze and piña colada as he waits for the game to download. 

_It’s for the immersion_. He’s free to not be judged in his own home, he reminds himself as he settles back into his sofa crease. The soft, fuzzy blanket he keeps on the back of the sofa is pulled around his shoulders, New Horizons has just finished downloading on his Switch, and he’s got the entire day ahead of him to escape reality and get swindled by one mister Tom Nook completely guilt-free. 

Dan spends hours in the Animal Crossing world, warm fuzzy feelings as he takes way too long perfecting his little character, lamenting over the perfect spot to place his tent, pulling every single weed he finds, and simply having a little nostalgic cry over the cutscenes and art. 

The game is everything he’s wanted and more, exactly what he’s needed for that bit of childish joy and escapism, so when he heads over to the airport and sees the option to travel to friends he frowns for the first time in hours. 

_Right, forgot about those._

It’s not like Dan doesn’t have friends, maybe he’s a bit of a homebody that keeps to himself - a true introvert, but he _does_ have friends. Unfortunately, none of them are gamers like him. And especially, even with his prodding and suggestions, none of them are interested in Animal Crossing. So he has no friends online, definitely none playing animal crossing, and he has a bit of a pout at his paused screen thinking about not being able to _fully_ experience the game. 

After a break for a much needed dinner re-fuel - _mostly_ just to let his Switch charge up - Dan decides to do the one thing he always does when he doesn’t know what to do. 

He’s tempted by the top post on his Reddit home page, but he’s determined and bypasses it for the search bar, typing in the Animal Crossing subreddit and making quick work of finding the friend code thread. He sorts the posts by new and refreshes a few times, hoping that people who have just posted will be quick to accept his request, so he can get back to playing. 

Dan scrolls past the first dozen or so, people simply typing in their friend code and nothing else, and stops at the first longer chunk of text he sees. 

**AmazingPhil**

_Hello! 33, UK. My friends all say that they’re too old for Animal Crossing :( If you would like to add me, I have peaches! Just call me the peach man! APeachyPhil._

Dan snorts at the row of alternating peach and palm tree emojis the commenter added before their friend code information. Something about it is so endearing, and _god,_ _maybe he needed to get out more._

_[SW-8675-3094-2069 Phil, Pen Island]_

An audible “ _Ha!”_ fills Dan’s flat as he snorts at this person’s- peach man, _no_. _Phil’s_ island name. He reads the comment over again with a smile. If he accepts Dan, that’s at least someone who might be playing at the same time as him. Plus he has peaches, for which Dan is incredibly jealous. So he picks his Switch back up and taps in the friend code. 

He chalks the fleeting thought that the guy’s mii is cute down to sheer loneliness and desperation and sends the request. 

**danisnotonfire**

_hi dan here just added you i have pears and i am ready for your peaches_

Dan presses send before he even thinks about his message, he almost cringes into another dimension as he reads it back underneath Phil’s. 

Well. The damage is done, he sighs as he keeps scrolling, reading through a few more posts until he adds a handful of other people with a good variety of fruit. He doesn’t know if any of them will add him back, he definitely doesn’t think the first person he added will after his cringe respo-

 _Oh._ The notification pops up on his Switch. 

Phil is now his friend. 

Dan smiles and boots New Horizons back up, not even waiting for anyone else’s acceptances. He has his first Animal Crossing friend! 

Dan is distracted pulling weeds again when his phone pings. A notification from reddit. 

**AmazingPhil**

_Bless me, pear dad._

And, of course, at the end of the reply to Dan’s comment is a row of pear and _bear? e_ mojis. Dan doesn’t quite understand what the bear emojis are for - he guesses there are bears in Animal Crossing so it makes sense - but it’s cute nonetheless. He ignores his weeds and makes his way to the airport. 

Phil ends up being the only person that accepts Dan’s request. And honestly? Dan’s not even that put out by it. It sounds stupid, and a bit sad, but Phil is genuinely fun to play with. It’s not like Animal Crossing is mainly based on friend gameplay, if you grind you can honestly play the majority of the game without, but having Phil pop by his island - and popping by Phil’s - every time he boots up the game absolutely enhances everything about the game. 

And Dan didn’t even know there was a direct messaging feature on Reddit. At least, not until a week after he had responded to Phil’s post and another notification from the app pinged on his phone. 

**AmazingPhil:** _Hello! This might be weird, stranger danger! but I just wanted to say thanks for adding me on acnh. You’re really fun to play with (and that’s not just because no one else had added me)_

Dan had smiled at the message, at the little monkey emoji covering its eyes next to a lion emoji. He wasn’t sure what they meant, but it was cute. 

And Phil is cute, Dan has decided. At least, Phil over tens - _okay maybe hundreds -_ of direct messages and the little Animal Crossing character Phil he’s come to know so well. He doesn’t even let himself feel sad or desperate about it, it’s simply nice to have a friend. And people make friends online all the time, who’s to say those friendships are any lesser than the ones made in real life? 

Phil is funny and flirty and silly. He likes Muse and dogs and lives somewhere in the United Kingdom. He wants a corgi when he moves out of his flat to somewhere bigger that allows pets, but he’s been thinking about getting a fish in the meantime. 

Dan doesn’t even know what Phil looks like, what his voice sounds like, or even his last name - but he knows his mum’s name is Katherine and she lives on the Isle of Man and _apparently_ makes the _best_ Sunday roasts. 

Animal Crossing (and also a bit of Mario Kart as well. Even if Dan is far, far better at it than Phil, it’s nice to play together.) isn’t technically real life. But Phil is real, and so is Dan. And that’s real life enough for him. 

On the list of weird things Dan’s been attracted to - his dentist, a particularly good pistachio muffin, Simba from The Lion King - he’s somehow the most shocked by his attraction to Phil. A mii icon on his Switch friends list and a cute Animal Crossing character with a light brown quiff and a triangle nose. He knows realistically it’s more than that, the messages they send back and forth and the actual _real_ connection they’ve made through screens, but falling for someone he’s never even seen before is new for Dan. So maybe not the weirdest thing he’s been attracted to, but it’s odd all the same. 

Eventually life does call. Dan only has a few moments before heading out of his flat for a few meetings he’s put off to open up New Horizons as he sips his coffee. He goes about his usual tasks and smiles like a damn idiot when he sees Phil is online and visiting his island. A sigh fills his small kitchen as he leans against his countertop and hits Phil with his net, he wishes he didn’t have to leave in a few minutes. 

**Dan:** hi

 **Phil:** i h8 u

Dan laughs, saving his game and putting his Switch to sleep. After he toes on his shoes, right before ducking out the door, he swipes his Switch off the counter and tucks it into his backpack. Maybe he’ll have a moment to play between meetings. 

The lift dings and it stops the impatient tapping of Dan’s foot on the carpeted hallway. He’s late, but that won’t stop him from taking the longer route of the lift over the wheezy route of the stairs. He’s looking at his feet, then the panel on the lift to press the ground floor button, so he jumps when a voice speaks up behind him. 

“Good mornin- _Oh!_ Sorry didn’t mean to give you a fright!” 

Dan turns to see hot upstairs neighbor leaning against the lift wall. He’s all put together - perfectly styled quiff, clean-shaven face, no glasses over those _very blue_ eyes. He’s wearing a button up shirt that makes his arms look _delicious_ , but Dan doesn’t even squint to decipher the pattern on it because he’s too distracted by the object in hot upstairs neighbor’s hands. 

“S’okay. What are you playing?” Dan cocks his head and his heart melts only a little bit as he watches hot upstairs neighbor’s cheeks turn pink. 

“Oh um,” hot upstairs neighbor lets out a small giggle. “Animal Crossing,” he says as he turns the Switch around, showing Dan a _very familiar_ screen. 

Not familiar because it’s Animal Crossing. No. 

Familiar because it’s an island Dan has seen hundreds of times. 

A smile, so wide it almost hurts, spreads across Dan’s face as he looks from the Switch to blue eyes. 

“Phil?”


End file.
